 
 
Grade 7 Visual Art
Design Focus: Emphasis
• emphasis: use of color intensity, contrast in value, placement and size of shapes, and/or weight of line to create a particular focal point
Contemporary Focus:
Culminating Project: Sculpture/exhibit of endangered species
Art History:
By the Middle School years, a quality instructional program will focus on the consolidation of students’ knowledge, skills, and strategies in the visual arts. They will have acquired foundational knowledge about artistic forms and conventions, the creative process, and critically interacting with a diverse range of artworks. Consequently, students will require multiple and diverse opportunities to practice independently and demonstrate achievement of art learning. To demonstrate mastery, they are ready to apply their abilities to new visual challenges that they have not yet encountered but which are within the range of their skill set. Because they have developed the ability to reflect on, monitor, and take steps to improve their art learning, they use their inquiry and research skills to extend their interpretive and creative abilities. As they start to develop powerful new thoughts and feelings that sometimes challenge established world-views, they use the arts to explore and comment on issues relevant to their daily lives. Art making becomes a safe arena for experimenting in the construction of new relationships between inner and outer realities as young adolescents encounter conflicting and diverse experiences. At the same time that they eagerly incorporate aspects of popular culture into their art they also come to understand the context of historical artworks in more refined and probing ways, leading to greater understanding of what they themselves value. They realize that artists are concerned with issues relevant to their own lives and society and discover exemplars of artistic practices that resonate with their own personal and creative concerns, helping them to reflect more deeply on their own art making. An emerging proficiency in the creative process and critical reflection leads to increasingly confident and informed responses to art while their own art also displays greater expressive confidence and skill. By the end of Grade 8, their technical and conceptual competence in art should result in the first glimmers of a distinctive personal style and pronounced personal aesthetic interests. While teachers should continue employing guided practice in the use of the creative process, methods and materials, problem solving, and critically responding to art, they also provide significantly increased opportunities for independent practice. They should continue to explicitly teach and model skills to help students identify what is needed to become proficient creators and interpreters of art.
Subject matter that is designed to support and challenge students at their individual level of development in the arts will enhance the benefits of appropriately scaffolded instruction. It is important to ensure that students are able to choose from a wide range of topics and activities that are open-ended, provide for multiple, diverse solutions, and which are engaging and relevant to their personal experiences and interests.
Students in the Middle School years continue to generate and develop visual ideas in response to a variety of motivations, using imagination, observation, and a study of artists’ works, and incorporate into their art ideas gained from sources such as independent reading. They also generate and develop visual ideas in response to a variety of artistic challenges and techniques, e.g. the postmodern principles of art and other contemporary “lenses” through which meaning can be created and interpreted. Students explore and describe how different media influence the communication and interpretation of ideas in their own and others’ work. To this end, they look beyond the surface meaning of art works and observe not only what is present but what is missing, in order to analyze and evaluate an artist’s intent. They also analyze and describe how art-making processes and procedures clarify meaning and intentions in their own and others’ work and observe how artists tell stories and create mood in their work. Students use their growing analytical and evaluative skills to investigate the purpose(s) and significance of objects, images, and art works in past and present cultures and to examine the contexts in which they were or are made, viewed, and valued. By the end of 8th grade, should have achieved a significant level of consolidation in their understanding of aesthetics as the emotional and cognitive reaction to the perceived ideas and aspirations that a person or group expresses through the making and display of art.
Students should have access to culturally diverse examples that allow them to explore more complex topics or issues and more subtle or abstract themes. The following provide a variety of sources to motivate and engage diverse groups of students: Oral forms such as dramatic presentations, oral reports, think-alouds, commentaries, speeches, monologues, and song lyrics; kinaesthetic forms such as acting out, movement, and dance; concrete forms such as artifacts, garments, and props; print forms such as posters, images, digital and print photographs, stories, biographies, graphic novels, poetry, myths, and legends; and media forms as movie trailers, graphic designs for various products, newspaper or magazine articles, video games, comic books, flyers, websites, and e-mails.
As a general rule, no more than 30% of instructional time should focus exclusively on the elements and principles; students should be primarily engaged in the creative process of making meaning, with the elements and principles used as tools to this end and the learning of these tools reinforced in the process itself. Instead of being based on the elements and principles framework, lessons should be primarily framed using alternate models appropriate to 21st Century learning such as: Pink’s six aptitudes: story, design, symphony, play, empathy, and meaning; the Studio Habits of Mind model; of Gude’s Principles of Postmodernism.
|
Unit 1. Art Changes Our Way of Thinking and Seeing
Approximately 4 weeks
|
Themes and Concepts
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions
Additional Concepts and Themes determined by specific learning units designed by each art teacher
Metaphor
Modification and transformation of imagery
Inquiry based development of imagery…
|
Georgia Performance Standards in the Visual Arts for Unit 1
VA7MC.1 Engages in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas.
VA7MC.2 Identifies and works to solve problems through creative thinking, planning, and/or experimenting with art methods and materials.
VA7CU.1 Discovers how the creative process relates to art history.
VA7PR.1 Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes with care and craftsmanship.
VA7PR.2 Creates artwork reflecting a range of concepts, ideas, and subject matter.
VA7PR.3 Uses the elements and principles of design along with a variety of media, techniques and skills to produce two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art.
VA7PR.4 Keeps a visual/verbal sketchbook journal, consistently throughout the course, to collect, develop, and preserve ideas in order to produce works of art.
VA7AR.1 Develops and maintains an individual portfolio of artworks.
VA7AR.2 Critiques personal artworks as well as artwork of others using visual the and verbal approaches.
VA7AR.3 Reflects and expands the use of visual language throughout the artistic process.
VA7C.2 Develops fluency in visual communication.
VA7C.3 Expands knowledge of art as a profession and/or avocation and increases personal life-skills through artistic endeavor.
|
Suggested Activities and Teacher Prompts
VTS Writing Pre-Test: (Required)
Review of 6th Grade End of Year Learning Unit and 6th grade art history images (Required)
Use the Brandhorst Metaphor Worksheet or the Exquisite Corpse Sentence Constructor technique to generate ideas for artworks; employ the Roukes image modification techniques and strategies to develop imagery and creative thinking; further develop visual ideas by producing a variety of thumbnail sketches.
Develop unpredictable imagery, appreciation for using non-traditional materials and confidence by using Salvador Dali’s Surrealist method of looking for imagery in stains and blots; use old maps, photos of textured surfaces, rubbings, used coffee filters, dirt stained paper, etc
Develop skills in symbolic understanding and transformation through:
symbolization: make a list of processes such as open, shut, lift, drop, turn, recycle, destruct, do not enter, etc; design an appropriate, original graphic symbol for each.
symbolic doodles: divide paper into six compartments; in each, create a symbolic doodle that portrays each of the following: Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow; Restraint-Reaction-Freedom; Sleep-Awakening-Action; Compression-Ignition-Exhaust; Nonbeing-Birth-Transformation; Stimulus-response-Result
Use elements of design in art works to communicate ideas, messages, and understandings for a specific audience and purpose
produce balance in positive and negative space in a personal logo design, using drawing or paper cut-outs of black-and-white shapes on a grey background. Variation: produce a personal digital logo using a computer that demonstrates experimentation with compositional elements, computer program icons, layering, and 1-2 filters. Select a student to demonstrate use of the computer program. Discuss the range of artistic options.
selectively manipulate the color, values, and text in a digital composition to change the message of a print advertisement)
Teacher prompts: “How could you elaborate on the visual metaphor in your logo? How could you simplify the design of the logo and still retain a balance between positive and negative shapes?” “How could you change the colors, values, and symbols used in a print advertisement for a popular soft drink to convey an objection to consumerism?”
Ongoing throughout the year:
In your verbal-visual sketchbook, identify and explain their strengths, their interests, and areas for improvement as creators, interpreters, and viewers of art (e.g., reflect on challenges and successes in the form of an artist’s statement; maintain in your sketchbook a collection of ideas and images for art works; do peer reviews of each other’s art works, using a checklist of criteria created by the class to help you identify areas that need revision, and provide suggestions)
Teacher prompts: “How did you adapt these new ideas, situations, media, materials, processes, or technologies to help you convey your ideas?” “How did you use imagination, observation, and the study of other art works to help you develop your ideas?” “How did you negotiate designs with other members of the group and agree on the techniques, ideas, and composition you used?” “How did you approach the challenges you faced in making sure your sculpture was interesting to look at from more than one side? What would you do differently next time?”
Demonstrate an understanding of key contributions and functions of visual and media arts in various contexts at both the local and the national levels (e.g., community art schools or programs provide opportunities for creative expression and instruction by and for both amateurs and professionals; a wide variety of workers are employed by arts industries such as advertising, design, movie making, and broadcast media; artists contribute to America’s economy by providing both goods and services)
Teacher prompts: “In what ways do the visual arts contribute to the economies of urban and rural communities?” “In what ways are the visual arts involved in international trade?” “What are the various professions or careers that have a basis in visual arts, and what education is required? How can we find out more about these careers?”
The following skills are introduced to support artistic development, creative thinking, and meaning making in alignment with this unit’s theme and not as ends-in-themselves:
Assessment
Student self-assessment in visual/verbal journal
Teacher assessment: Studio Habits of Mind rubric (high/medium/low)
|
Artworks for required VTS: 2 images per week (see below)
Other suggested art criticism models (introduced at discretion of teacher):
Feldman model
Recommended Artists/Artworks:
Recommended texts:
Advanced students:
|
II. Art Helps Us Understand Where We Are in Time and Place
Approximately 3-4weeks
|
Themes and Concepts
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions
Additional Concepts and Themes determined by specific learning units designed by each art teacher
|
Georgia Performance Standards in the Visual Arts for Unit 2
VA7MC.3 Interprets how artists create and communicate meaning in and through their work.
VA7MC.4 Participates in dialogue about his or her artwork and the artwork of others.
VA7CU.2 Investigates and discovers personal relationship to community, culture, and world through creating and studying art.
VA7PR.1 Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes with care and craftsmanship.
VA7PR.2 Creates artwork reflecting a range of concepts, ideas, and subject matter.
VA7PR.3 Uses the elements and principles of design along with a variety of media, techniques and skills to produce two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art.
VA7PR.4 Keeps a visual/verbal sketchbook journal, consistently throughout the course, to collect, develop, and preserve ideas in order to produce works of art.
VA7AR.1 Develops and maintains an individual portfolio of artworks.
VA7AR.2 Critiques personal artworks as well as artwork of others using visual the and verbal approaches.
VA7AR.3 Reflects and expands the use of visual language throughout the artistic process.
VA7C.2 Develops fluency in visual communication.
VA7C.3 Expands knowledge of art as a profession and/or avocation and increases personal life-skills through artistic endeavor.
|
Suggested Activities and Teacher Prompts
Download Olivia Gude’s Spiral Workshop lesson units that employ the “principles of possibility” and principles of postmodernism (e.g. Chromophobia, Conflict and Resolution, Pencils and Pixels, Painting—So Cute and Creepy, etc.)
Authentic development of visual symbols, metaphors, critical reflection and analogical thinking in the artistic process:
• graphic design (symbolic message): produce a symbolic message using graphic designs and images to be put on board a spaceship and directed to other forms of intelligence in the universe (such as was put on the Voyager spacecraft); use the symbols to tell such things as who we are, what we look like, what we do, the things we have created, the places we live in, the technology , science, games, inventions, sports, transportation systems, dances, and so on that are part of our world
• sculpture (symbolic shoe): transform an old shoe into a symbolic monument; take discarded shoe, select a theme (such as “Ode to Napoleon, Ode to Mohammed Ali, Ode to Einstein, Ode to Picasso, etc”), and embellish and transform the shoe to portray the theme (add paper-mache wings, roller skates, miniature toys, transistors, plumbing fixtures, coins) and decorate the surface with bits of mosaic, glitter, yarn, mirror, paint, etc. Mount on a base and affix a name plate.
• sculpture: make a sculptural portrait of a hero or favorite person out of papier mâché or plaster bandage that captures what the person means to them
• sculpture: portray a particular image of Humanity, such as Human as the Inventor, the Artist, the Sportsman, the Magician, the Hunter, etc; interpret the concept with wire to produce a 3-D sculpture; add additional elements to emphasize the theme: clock parts, transistors, rulers, maps, mechanical parts, etc
• sculpture: in “Look who’s coming to dinner,” students plan an imaginary dinner party; they invite celebrities, historical characters, and fictional characters; what kind of dinner would you cook for Joe DiMaggio, Sherlock Holmes, Count Dracula, Mae West, King Henry II, the Buddha, Casanova, Van Gogh, Charlie Chaplin, Sigmund Freud, Cleopatra, Hieronymus Bosch, The Lone Ranger, Johann Guttenberg? Selecting one, let the students imagination dictate the outrageous menu; fashion the dinner on a cardboard plate using Styrofoam, paper, yarn, cellophane, ping-pong balls, sand, glitter, paint, wire, etc.; serve the table on a long table; make a place setting by using 18x24” paper as a placemat and decorate appropriately, including a name card, napkin and cutlery; each class member contributes a “meal” and sits down as their character for a dinner conversation. What will these diverse characters discuss?
• imaginary archive (fantasy case): select a hero or historical figure and portray an “alter ego” for them in three dimensional form; within a plastic, wooden, or shoe box, arrange various objects, photos, drawings, poems, mementos, souvenirs, and other memorabilia that portray the historical personality’s alter ego. Discuss Duchamp’s use of cases as art forms, Cornell’s display boxes.
• mixed media: make a series of small artist trading cards in a variety of media, illustrating a contemporary issue or topic in the styles of the selected artists
• mixed media: use color [analogous, monochromatic] to unify a montage of newspaper and magazine images and text on a social issue
Identify and describe some of the ways in which art forms and styles reflect the beliefs and traditions of a variety of communities, times, and places
art can represent ways in which people view their personal identity
contemporary Aboriginal artists use their artistic traditions to comment on identity, society, and the world
art can be a record of human experience
differences in style among different artists can be associated with a specific reason, intent, or motivation
Teacher prompts: “How do contemporary artists use the influences of various global and/or historical art forms to explore ideas and themes that have personal relevance?” “How does Jane Ash Poitras’ combining of autobiographical elements, traditional Cree iconography, text, photographs, newspaper clippings, and painted elements address ideas about identity and acculturation?” “Describe some of the differences and similarities between the depictions of men and the depictions of women in historical and contemporary art works.”
Ongoing throughout the year:
In your verbal-visual sketchbook, identify and explain their strengths, their interests, and areas for improvement as creators, interpreters, and viewers of art (e.g., reflect on challenges and successes in the form of an artist’s statement; maintain in your sketchbook a collection of ideas and images for art works; do peer reviews of each other’s art works, using a checklist of criteria created by the class to help you identify areas that need revision, and provide suggestions)
Teacher prompts: “How did you adapt these new ideas, situations, media, materials, processes, or technologies to help you convey your ideas?” “How did you use imagination, observation, and the study of other art works to help you develop your ideas?” “How did you negotiate designs with other members of the group and agree on the techniques, ideas, and composition you used?” “How did you approach the challenges you faced in making sure your sculpture was interesting to look at from more than one side? What would you do differently next time?”
Demonstrate an understanding of key contributions and functions of visual and media arts in various contexts at both the local and the national levels (e.g., community art schools or programs provide opportunities for creative expression and instruction by and for both amateurs and professionals; a wide variety of workers are employed by arts industries such as advertising, design, movie making, and broadcast media; artists contribute to America’s economy by providing both goods and services)
Teacher prompts: “In what ways do the visual arts contribute to the economies of urban and rural communities?” “In what ways are the visual arts involved in international trade?” “What are the various professions or careers that have a basis in visual arts, and what education is required? How can we find out more about these careers?”
The following skills are introduced to support artistic development, creative thinking, and meaning making in alignment with this unit’s theme and not as ends-in-themselves:
Assessment
Student self-assessment in visual/verbal journal
Teacher assessment: Studio Habits of Mind rubric (high/medium/low)
|
Artworks for required VTS: 2 images per week (see below)
Other suggested art criticism models (introduced at discretion of teacher):
Feldman model
Recommended Artists/Artworks:
Recommended texts:
Advanced students:
|
III. Art Helps Us Organize Ourselves in Sharing The Planet
(Culminating Project) Approximately 1-2 weeks
|
Themes and Concepts
Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions
Additional Concepts and Themes determined by specific learning units designed by each art teacher
|
Georgia Performance Standards in the Visual Arts for Unit 2
VA7MC.1 Engages in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas.
VA7MC.2 Identifies and works to solve problems through creative thinking, planning, and/or experimenting with art methods and materials.
VA7CU.2 Investigates and discovers personal relationship to community, culture, and world through creating and studying art.
VA7PR.1 Understands and applies media, techniques, and processes with care and craftsmanship.
VA7PR.2 Creates artwork reflecting a range of concepts, ideas, and subject matter.
VA7PR.3 Uses the elements and principles of design along with a variety of media, techniques and skills to produce two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art.
VA7PR.4 Keeps a visual/verbal sketchbook journal, consistently throughout the course, to collect, develop, and preserve ideas in order to produce works of art.
VA7AR.1 Develops and maintains an individual portfolio of artworks.
VA7AR.2 Critiques personal artworks as well as artwork of others using visual the and verbal approaches.
VA7AR.3 Reflects and expands the use of visual language throughout the artistic process.
VA7AR.4 Plans and presents appropriate exhibition(s) for work(s) of art.
VA7C.1 Applies information from other disciplines to enhance the understanding and production of artworks.
VA7C.2 Develops fluency in visual communication.
VA7C.3 Expands knowledge of art as a profession and/or avocation and increases personal life-skills through artistic endeavor.
|
Suggested Activities and Teacher Prompts
VTS Writing Post-Test (Required)
Culminating Project (Required): Create sculpture constructed from material such as boxes and tubes, cardboard, papier mâchè, and paint that demonstrates:
• gesture
• movement
• expression
• attention to three-dimensionality
Theme: a free standing figure of an endangered species or a species that has become extinct in the last 20 years; with your class, discuss and develop an installation that uses all of the class’ endangered species sculptures and which communicates a message without words. Examine the sculpture of Barry Wilson (?), Joel Shapiro for gesture and movement; Red Grooms and Tom
Otterness for a sense of whimsy.
|
Artworks for required VTS: 2 images per week (see below)
Other suggested art criticism models (introduced at discretion of teacher):
Feldman model
Recommended Artists/Artworks:
Recommended texts:
Advanced students:
|
|
Share with your friends: |
